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LAHORE: Abdullah Abbas waded through Lahore’s flooded streets, struggling to push his motorcycle and deliver a food order on time.

The water had risen to his torso, his jeans soaked and rolled up over sandals, leaving him vulnerable to electrocution and infectious diseases.

Even as monsoon rains deluge Pakistan’s cities, food and grocery orders on the Singapore-based delivery platform Foodpanda pour in.

“If I don’t deliver the orders, my Foodpanda account will get blocked, which would leave me without money,” Abbas told AFP in the old quarter of Lahore, known for its narrow, congested streets.

“I need this money to pay my high school fees,” added the 19-year-old, who is completing his last year of secondary school.

Since June, monsoon rains in Pakistan have killed more than 1,000 people, swelling major rivers and devastating rural communities along their banks.

Urban centers such as Lahore, a city of more than 14 million people, and Karachi, the country’s largest city with more than 25 million people, have also suffered urban flooding in part because of poorly planned development.

Abbas earns around $7 a day, above the average salary, but only when the sun is shining.

To meet the average monthly pay of around $140, he was to work seven days a week for over 10 hours fitted around his studies.

“Customers behave rudely and you have to handle all the stress,” added Muhammad Khan, a 23-year-old Foodpanda rider, as he carefully navigated his motorbike through Karachi’s muddy, pothole ridden roads.

Pakistan, where 45 percent of people live under the poverty line, is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with limited resources dedicated to adaptation.

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By the middle of August, Pakistan had already received 50 percent more monsoon rainfall than last year, according to disaster authorities, while in neighboring India, the annual rains kill hundreds every year.

While South Asia’s seasonal monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic.

A report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said brown water inundating city streets is not only the result of climate change but “clogged drains, inadequate solid waste disposal, poor infrastructure, encroachments, elitist housing societies.”

Doctors warn that working repeatedly in damp conditions can cause fungal infections and flu, while exposure to dirty water can spread eye and skin infections.

Gig economy workers attached to delivery apps such as Foodpanda and ride hailing apps Bykea and InDrive, made up nearly two percent of Pakistan’s labor force or half a million people in 2023, according to Fairwork, a project by the University of Oxford.

Fairwork rated six digital labor platforms in the country and all of them have the “minimum standards of fair work conditions.”
International Labor Organization meanwhile says gig workers lack government protection and face systemic violations of international labor standards.

Motorbike rider Muneer Ahmed, 38, said he quit being a chef and joined Bykea to become “his own boss.”

“When it rains, customers try to take rickshaws or buses, which leaves me with no work,” said Ahmed, waiting anyway on the side of the flooded street.

“Rain is a curse for the poor,” he said, watching the screen of his phone for a new customer.

Daily wage laborers, often working in construction, also see their work dry up.

It hs been nearly four days since laborer Zahid Masih, 44, was hired, he told AFP while taking refuge under a bridge with other masons in Karachi.

“Jobs do come up, but only after the rain stops. There is no work as long as it is raining,” says the father of three.

“Sitting idle at home is not an option, as our stoves won’t be lit.”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday called the situation in Gaza a “defining moment” for both the Middle East and the Muslim world, while urging an immediate ceasefire, an end to Israel’s settlement expansion and the restitution of lands seized since 1967.

Dar made the remarks at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Committee of Six on Palestine, convened on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly Session in New York as Israel’s military campaign in Gaza continues along with rising violence in the West Bank.

Since October 2023, more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, by the Israeli forces that have also targeted civilian infrastructure including homes, hospitals and schools.

The Pakistani deputy PM noted in his speech the International Court of Justice had described the crisis as a case of “plausible genocide.”

“This is a defining moment for the Middle East and the Muslim world,” he said, adding: “The OIC must press for: first, an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire by Israel; second, provision of unfettered, sustained and secure humanitarian access to all civilians in need.”

He also demanded “an end to forced displacement, illegal settlement expansion and annexation of Palestinian land, particularly in the West Bank and East Jerusalem … restitution of lands, properties, and cultural assets seized since 1967 … [and] the right of return for displaced Palestinians.”

Dar laid out a 10-point list for the OIC, including accountability for war crimes, reparations for Palestinians, compliance with all ICJ rulings, support for Gaza’s reconstruction, deployment of an international protection mechanism and recognition of an independent Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Pakistan reaffirmed its solidarity with the Palestinian people and said as a newly elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2025-2026, it would continue to prioritize peace in the Middle East and justice for Palestinians.